Discussions By Condition: Digestive conditions

Gallstones....Does it matter?

Does the size of gallstones matter in regards to painful attacks? I had a ultrasound done yesterday and told my gallstones are small (sandlike), but I've had 2 major attacks in 2 weeks. My husband thinks maybe because they are small they are trying to pass into the bile duct.Does anyone know if size of gallstones makes any difference?Thanks!

3 Replies:

HiI had my gallbladder out last year which was diseased as a result of gallstones.Not everyone has to have it removed - you can live with gallstones all your life and never have any symptoms, or have them and have the occasional symptoms - both without having to have the gallbladder taken out.Guess I was unlucky...Well...my gallstones were small too - apparently hundreds of little ones.Most of the time it felt like an aching pain rather than acute pain (particularly after food, as you may have noticed), but I had 3 attacks of severe acute pain over about a 4 month period which felt like someone stabbing a knife into me.Luckily, this lasted only for about 15 minutes at a time, but during this, I felt like I was going to die and having a heart attack!I was sweating with the pain.After the 3rd, I'd had enough (this clearly wasn't normal acid, as I'd been telling myself) went to my GP and he sent me to have an ultrasound, which is when they told me I had loads of them.I was informed by the surgeon that the attacks I had experienced were indeed stones passing through the bile duct.I'm not sure if bigger stones make things more painful (I don't see how it could have been much more painful!) but it may prolong the pain if it takes longer to get through?I was also told by the surgeon that apparently, gallstone pain like this is rated up there with childbirth in the pain stakes - I haven't had children so wouldn't know.Eating fatty food makes things worse.I hope you get a resolution to your pain.x

Hi... you may want to check out a liver and gallbladder cleanse which purges your body of gallstones. It's not difficult, but a little time consuming. It involves modifying your diet and drinking quite a lot of apple juice (malic acid in the juice relaxes bile ducts). When ready to release the stones, you drink a mix of fresh lemon juice and olive oil.Do a google search for "liver stones" and you'll find a huge amount of info.

I am the person who replied saying about havng my gallbladder removed last year.At the time, I wanted to avoid having this done at all costs, and did a lot of research on the internet in an effort to avoid it.Gallbladder/liver 'cleanses' or 'purges' were one of the things I looked at.However, there is also a lot of information out there disputing the efficacy of doing so - apparently, what comes out in BM's (lots of little green/similarly colored 'stones') are really just faeces with a lot of bile in it, and that it is physically impossible to pass so many stones as a result of a simple 'purge'.If only there was such a simple solution, we wouldn't need cholycystectomies!